I wrote in another post about the nerve-wracking process of searching for endorsers--asking people who are most likely to be critical to evaluate and endorse your book.

Well, I mustered up the nerve to approach another person who's opinion means a great deal to me and whom I respect personally and professionally.

I was blessed to have a number of gifted and influential teachers during college and all of them left significant imprints on me. One of these was as an English professor: Sirpa Grierson Ph.D. You can see professional information about her by clicking on her name. I met her when I took a course she taught on adolescent literature. Perhaps most of us remember a class we took where we learned the material presented but so much more. This was one of those classes for me.

Sister Grierson was an exceptional teacher. She knew her subject deeply and had the additional, and not very common, facility of making that subject come alive. Every class period was exciting and I remember having a wonderful intellectual and spiritual feast that semester. That was the other remarkable quality Sister Grierson has: she is a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ and without ever being preachy, that came though in every interaction with her. In addition to being a teacher and scholar, she and her husband have raised a wonderful family and have built a spirit-filled home--which we all felt when she hosted us at her house.

I loved her class so much that I persuaded her to sponsor me in a guided readings course and that was a real joy. I watched and learned so much from her over the next year or two. She was a wonderful mentor and example to me. And, she was always incredibly encouraging of my writing.

So, I was honored and deeply touched when she agreed to read my manuscript and provided the following endorsement.

Thank you, Sirpa!

"In The Road Show, Bell gracefully captures the lives of five members of the Church, each with their own struggles of faith and worthiness, to skillfully weave them into a montage centered upon the Savior. Bell is an observer of human nature and has a deft hand for nuance, voice, and characterization. Scott Horn, the protagonist, is a theater student, caught in a painful struggle with pornography. Feelings of unworthiness envelop Scott as he reluctantly accepts a calling to direct a road show for his ward. While his academic career is on the line, he is drawn back to life as he develops a powerful script, complete with original music lyrics, a message of joy and hope that heals the cast members as they attend rehearsals. An extraordinary book about the redemptive power of Christ in the lives of ordinary people. I couldn?t put it down."

--Sirpa Grierson, Associate Professor of English, Brigham Young University